Chinese MMDVM Hotspot with polished Aluminum case from EBay

[KK4C]

I purchased one of the MMDVM Chinese hotspots off of Ebay for $120, and it seems to work fine in DMR or DStar, my primary digital modes. Also has a rechargeable battery, color display, ethernet or WiFi connectivity and attractive polished aluminum case. It operates off of the PiStar software.

It has worked well to date on both DMR and Dstar. Attractive display and case.

My concern is the inability to update the Pi-Star software. It arrived operating on PiStar 3.14.7, the current software is 4.1.6. On my other Zumspot, you simply update the microSim card and reconfigure. The software update process within PiStar doesn't update to the current version. There is no MicroSim card in the Chinese MMDVM device. The Chinese EBay seller provides no process for software update, suggesting that either it cannot be done because of some incompatibility with the hardware or that it is more challenging in some way.

I believe that what is primarily missing in comparison to the newer PiStar software is the cross mode capability, which I would like to do.

Has anyone determined how to update the software in these devices to the current Pi-Star version?

Thanks!

 

[w2xq]

Is the SD card internal to the case? Unfortunately it is impossible to update v3 to v4 from the PiStar menu. (I have never seen a hotspot without external access to an SD card.) Sorry.

 

[KK4C]

Thank you for your response.
I disassembled the case looking for a sim card, but there is no sim and no slot for one which I can see. But clearly they had to load the software somehow.
It works just fine in simplex hotspot mode for both DMR and DStar, so I probably should not complain. It is worth the hundred bucks as is. And the software is clearly Pi-Star 3.14.7. But I like having stuff updated when I can, and there must be some way to do it.

Bill

 

[w2xq]

Interesting puzzle...

 

[a417]

If it has an IP address on your LAN, first thing I would try would be a portscan - and then I would try logging it to it via SSH / TTY / telnet, etc...

there's clearly something running on it, and there is likely a management interface behind pi-star

 

[KK4C]

Thanks for your response.

I suspect you are right and I understand the approach, but I would be hesitant to undertake it without explicit and detailed instructions…

 

[dickie757]

Maybe some one some other place has done it already. What is the make and model or other identifiable info?

Does it have usb connections?

a417's post is what I was gonna say...it's easy to explore the network port without doing any harm.

First thing, get pUtty if you don't have it yet. After finding the network address of the hotspot, put that address in the ssh spot and click connect. If you get that far, great! If not, tftp or telnet might be the way, but more detailed info from other sources will be needed.

Good luck